Wilton Rancheria Casino Community Meeting, Tonight July 6

The Wilton Rancheria Tribe will be holding a community meeting tonight from 5:30 to 7 pm. They will present plans for the proposed casino to be located adjacent to the Elk Grove Outlet Mall, as well as taking questions from community members. The meeting will be held at the Falls Events Center, 8280 Elk Grove Blvd, Elk Grove, 95758. It will be in the back building.

The tribe is planning on purchasing land for the casino from the Howard Hughes Corporation, owners of the mall property. The casino is expected to cost $400 million to build. The Wilton Rancheria Tribe had announced plans to build a casino at one of the 3 locations in the area, Galt, Elk Grove and Wilton. Galt was initially their first choice because of the size of the property. Eventually Elk Grove became their first choice because of the existing infrastructure in place near Grantline and Highway 99.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs must approve of the transfer of the land into the tribe. The City of Elk Grove and the County of Sacramento will not have say in the approval of the casino. Both entities will have an MOU, memorandum of understanding, with the tribe to be reimbursed loss of revenue and increased services. For the city of Elk Grove, the transfer of the land into the tribe will mean a loss of sales and property tax revenue as well as increased fire and police services.